Samsung’s foldable smartphone is expected to arrive in the near future, and the phone just got certified by CMIIT, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. This more or less confirms that the phone is right around the corner, and if rumors are to be believed, it could become official during Samsung’s Unpacked event on February 20 or MWC 2019.

Samsung had already confirmed that its Galaxy S10 series of smartphones will be announced on February 20 during its press conference, while the company also hinted that its foldable phone may make an appearance at that conference as well. The company did not straight up confirm that we’ll see its foldable device on February 20, but its “fold” reference on Paris billboards kind of hint that may be the case.

In any case, the Samsung SM-F9000 got certified by CMIIT, and that model number almost certainly belongs to the Galaxy Fold, or whatever the company ends up calling the device, even though the Galaxy Fold name is quite possible, as it was trademarked by the company a while back. The company’s foldable smartphone was often referred to as the “Galaxy F”, so it fits.

What Do We Know Thus Far?

Samsung had shown off its foldable smartphone during its developer’s conference at the end of last year, and even though we could see it in action, its design was obstructed by a heavy-duty case, so we did not really see exactly what it will look like. The company briefly showed the phone, and we, of course, do not have all the necessary details just yet. What was revealed during that conference is the fact that the phone will sport a secondary (smaller) display on the back, which will activate once its main display is folded. It was also clearly visible that the final software is not included on the phone, so Samsung is probably working out the kinks as we speak.

The company’s foldable smartphone is expected to sport a 7.3-inch Infinity Flex display, when unfolded, while its secondary display on the back will be 4.6 inches in diagonal. The phone is expected to come with at least 512GB of storage, a large battery, and it will be fueled by the Snapdragon 855 processor, while the Exynos 9820 variant is also a possibility. The Galaxy Fold will be quite an expensive smartphone, in case you were wondering, as it is rumored to cost somewhere between $1,500 and $2,000, not a single report thus far was confident of a single price tag.

Galaxy Fold’s Competition

Samsung is not the only smartphone manufacturer which plans to introduce a foldable smartphone this year, not by a long shot. In fact, some rumors are claiming that Huawei plans to do that during this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, which could be a reason why Samsung opted to host a press conference prior to MWC, in order to trump Huawei. LG is also working on its foldable smartphone, while HTC confirmed that it will release such a phone as well, but in the second half of the year. OPPO’s foldable smartphone is expected to become a reality in H1 2019 as well, and several other OEMs are also working on such devices. It remains to be seen how appealing will such phones be to consumers, but we presume that the first batch will not be the greatest, plus there’s the matter of added bulk and thickness for such devices, so it will be interesting to see how will OEMs tackle those issues.

Kristijan has been writing for Android Headlines since 2014 and is an editor for the site. He has worked as a writer for several outlets before joining Android Headlines, and has a background in writing about Android and technology in general. He is a smartphone enthusiast that specializes in Android applications, and that platform in general. Contact him at Kristijan. [email protected]